Lexington street
gets new pavement
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 41
8 Pages
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Candidate for governor visits Heppner
Republican candidate for
governor, Kerry McQuisten,
visited Heppner Friday.
Republican candidate
for governor, Kerry Mc-
Quisten, visited Heppner
on the campaign trail last
Friday. The stop was part
of a two-day “pop-up” tour
of Morrow and Gilliam
counties.
“It’s personally im-
portant to me to visit every
county in Oregon as many
times as I can during this
race,” says McQuisten.
“Rural Oregon counties get
left out of the equation all
too often, and that attitude
among elected officials and
candidates has helped drive
a wedge between eastern
and western Oregon. I want
people to know they would
be represented if I’m elect-
ed Governor.”
McQuisten is a seventh
generation Oregonian who
currently serves as mayor of
Baker City. She started her
own publishing company
in 2007, and has owned
and operated it ever since,
though she was raised on
a cattle ranch. This is her
first time running for a ma-
jor office. “We don’t need
another politician in the
Governor’s seat,” she says.
“Too many people want to
be governor for reasons of
ego. Those are exactly the
candidates who should not
be in that office. I simply
want Oregon back, and
know I have the ability to
reverse the damage done to
our state, particularly over
the last two years. We can’t
stand four or eight more
years of overreach.”
McQuisten first hit the
public stage when she au-
thored Baker City’s Reso-
lution 3881, dubbed “The
Common Sense Sanctuary”
by media, earlier this year.
In reality, the resolution
was a declaration of mental
health, economic and crime
crisis not due to COVID,
but to Kate Brown’s re-
sponse to it. That stand
rolled across Oregon as
other counties and cities
adopted similar resolutions.
After multiple appearances
on FOX and several Port-
land-based news shows, she
received a groundswell of
encouragement to run for
governor.
“I’m hearing from vot-
ers in all political parties,
including lifelong Demo-
crats. Oregonians are done
watching their state be de-
stroyed.”
She points out that
when people say their voic-
es don’t count in rural areas,
it simply isn’t true. “If vot-
ers get genuinely excited
about a conservative can-
didate from eastern Oregon,
and turn in their ballots, the
numbers are there for us to
win this.”
If elected, McQuisten
would be the first Repub-
lican to hold the office in
nearly 40 years, the first fe-
male Republican governor
ever, and the first governor
Arcade Street in Lexington recently received new pavement.
from eastern Oregon since Morrow County Public Works Road Department spent several
the 1950s.
days completing the work last week. The Town of Lexington
repaves streets every year with the use of grant funds.
-Contributed photos.
McQuisten (center) visited with JoAnna Lamb (left) and Kim
Pictured (L-R): Cherrie Clark, Sheena Shank, McQuisten and
Cutsforth (right).
Darlene Klock.
Council hears plan to tackle south
county housing shortage
‘Major barrier to new housing is a lack of infrastructure,’
says county planner Mabbott
Tamra Mabbott, county
planner
vate sector funding. Many
of the new housing devel-
opments over the past 20
years has been the result of
a public-private partnership
between the Willow Creek
Valley Economic Develop-
ment Group (WCVEDG)
and the lone Community
Agri-Business Organiza-
tion (ICABO). While that
formula has produced some
new housing, the parties re-
alize that the major barrier
to new housing is a lack of
infrastructure. Collectively
these private and public
groups have accomplished
a lot, however, the design
and construction of infra-
structure has resulted in an
impasse for new housing
development,” Mabbott
said. “Even these very re-
markable efforts with bright
and resourceful people,
cannot overcome the fi-
nancial burden of building
and expanding new infra-
structure.”
She explained the new
effort she’s working on
seeks to retain a planning
and financial consulting
firm to find money for in-
frastructure and give the
cities places where new
homes can be built. She
said the program also wants
local people to help with
the effort to find funds for
infrastructure in the cities.
In addition to city manager
Kraig Cutsforth who will
serve on the committee,
Mabbott said she is looking
for individuals willing to
put in some volunteer time
on the effort. She said peo-
ple are needed who would
be helpful on a technical
advisory committee, and
she was especially encour-
aging “extra outreach to
communities that might not
be historically represented.
So, persons of color, low
income and very low-in-
come folks especially,”
she told the council. “It
is sometimes a lot more
difficult to get them to the
table to help us talk about
housing. All income levels
are needed,” she said, “but
if you think about persons
who traditionally might
be involved with this, we
need them, but we also
need folks that might not
traditionally be at the table
to be part of this project,”
Mabbott said of the volun-
teers needed. She said the
volunteer work would be
for a one-year commitment,
and the group would hold
an informational meeting
in the next couple of weeks.
Heppner city coun-
cilmember and local
Chamber of Commerce
and WCVEDG Executive
Director JoAnna Lamb
told the council she has
already been working on
housing issues. Lamb said
she is involved with four
different groups working
on infrastructure. “We can’t
do anything until that is ad-
McQuisten stopped off at Peterson’s Jewelry for a visit with
Randall Peterson. -Contributed photos.
dressed,” Lamb said, add-
ing she thought Heppner
was behind in those efforts
and needs to catch up to
where other cities are in ob-
taining studies and funding.
As an example, WCVEDG
recently purchased land
above Rock Street for use
as a new subdivision. The
area has been laid out with
13 lots for development,
however the project is wait-
ing for money to develop
the infrastructure. There has
already been heavy public
interest in any new build-
ing lots that may become
available there once water,
sewer and streets are put in,
however nothing can move
forward until infrastructure
funding is found.
In other business at
Monday’s meeting the
council awarded a contract
to Granite construction for
~ G-T Trophy Corner ~
The Heppner Gazette Times would
like to see pictures of your trophy
animals from this hunting season.
Please send a photo along with your
name, age, town you live in, location
of the hunt and a description of the
animal to editor@rapidserve.net,
upload to Heppner.net or text to
541-980-6674.
Jim Kirkpatrick, 66, Heppner,
harvested this ram in the Big-
horn Mountains of Alberta on
September 18, 2021.
$33,000 for work on Thom-
son Square. The new food
court is being developed on
Main Street next to the post
office, and already has a
new information booth, re-
stroom and drinking foun-
tains, as well as a concrete
pad poured near the front. It
will soon get asphalt poured
on the remainder of the
property farther back from
the street.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
NEW
2022
FOR
By David Sykes
A housing shortage af-
fecting all south Morrow
County could be getting
some help soon, county
planner Tamra Mabbott told
the Heppner city council
Monday night.
Anyone who has
looked for a rental or tried
to buy a home in Heppner,
Lexington or Ione recently,
already knows of the per-
sistent shortage, and the
problem doesn’t seem to be
going away. Mabbott told
the council, however, that
help is on the way.
Mabbott said it’s com-
mon knowledge to those
already working on the
housing problem, that the
number one obstacle to
developing new housing
is infrastructure. Streets,
sidewalks, gutters, water
and sewer lines as well as
water sources and sewer
facilities are needed before
homes can be built in the
communities. “The cities
have worked creatively
and collaboratively over
the past 20 plus years to
increase housing choices,”
she said. “A portion of the
new housing has been pri-
for more
information
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